Content management systems have been provided that enable a developer to develop custom applications that use and/or access content stored in an associated content repository. An example of such a system is an application server on which a content management framework and/or platform has been installed. The framework/platform includes a set of reusable components each preconfigured to perform a content management function or operation that an application developer may desire his/her application to perform. However, from time to time the need may arise to update the set of components, e.g., to install and deploy new/updated components developed by the content management system/application vendor, to deploy custom components developed by a content management system user and/or a third party developer, and to ensure that two or more application servers deployed at different times are all using the same version of the components. Therefore, there is a need for an effective way to deploy and update content management code.